JOURNAL OF IMAGING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY • Volume 42, Number 4, July/August 1998

Full-color 3-D Prints and Transparencies*

J. J. Scarpetti,† P. M. DuBois,† R. M. Friedhoff,† and V. K. Walworth‡

The Rowland Institute for Science, Cambridge, MA 02142

We have put into practical form one of Edwin Land’s early inventions, the stereoscopic Vectograph image. We have reinterpreted the
concept to produce digital 3-D hardcopy conveniently from both photographic and digital 3-D records. Digital 3-D images may be
produced directly by digital cameras, by computers and workstations, and by various instrumental outputs or they may be acquired
by scanning and digitizing photographic image pairs. Digital 3-D polarizing images are printed conveniently with an ink-jet printer.
To produce full-color 3-D hardcopy on standard ink-jet printers we have formulated special inks and substrates. Our technique unites
two very significant growing technologies: ink-jet printing and 3-D imaging.

Journal of Imaging Science and Technology 42: 307–310 (1998)

Introduction The chemistry of this Vectograph imaging process re-

The most commonly used method of 3-D presentation com- sembles that used in the production of sheet polarizers
prises encoding left- and right-eye images in terms of po- such as the Polaroid H-sheet. In each case the substrate
larization by mounting oppositely oriented polarizing fil- is a PVA sheet that has been heated and stretched to ori-
ters over the lenses of paired projectors and superimpos- ent the polymeric molecules, then laminated to a support
ing the left- and right-eye images on the screen, as shown and stained with an iodine ink. Such polarizers are de-
in Fig. 1. To preserve the polarization, the screen used fined as dichroic polarizers. Iodine may be described as a
must have a metallic, nondepolarizing surface. Suitable dichroic stain, and dyes that form spectrally selective di-
aluminum screens are commercially available. Observers chroic polarizers are described as dichroic dyes.2
view the composite image through 3-D polarizing glasses. In 1953 Land showed three-color Vectograph images
Under these circumstances each eye sees only the assigned that had been formed by successively transferring cyan,
image and the observer perceives the composite as a single
three-dimensional image. This method is effective, but it
is difficult to achieve correct and consistent stereoscopic
registration and alignment without specialized precision
equipment.
In 1940 Edwin Land introduced the Vectograph con-
cept.1 Instead of using polarizing filters to encode paired
images, he used images that were themselves polarizers.
He printed the respective left- and right-eye images on
opposite sides of a single transparent support, as indicated
in Fig. 2, so that once the two images had been properly
registered and printed, they could not be misaligned.
The earliest Vectograph images were in black and
white, and they were formed by staining preregistered
paired gelatin relief images with an iodine ink and trans-
ferring that ink to oppositely oriented polyvinyl alcohol
(PVA) layers laminated to opposite surfaces of a transpar-
ent film base.§ In each image area the effective density is
directly related to the amount of iodine transferred to the
PVA and thus to the degree of polarization.

Original manuscript received November 10, 1997

Figure 1. 3-D projection display with two projectors.
* Presented in part at the IS&T 50th Annual Conference, Cambridge,
MA, 18–23, 1997.
†
IS&T Member § The black-and-white Vectograph process was used extensively for both
military and industrial imaging during World War II. For many years
‡ IS&T Fellow Stereo Optical Co., Chicago, IL, has been producing black-and-white
Vectograph prints for use by ophthalmologists in binocular vision test-
© 1998, IS&T—The Society for Imaging Science and Technology ing and training.

307

Figure 2. The Vectograph concept, using paired, oppositely ori-
ented polarizing images.
magenta, and yellow dichroic dye images from paired gela-
tin relief images.¶ The color Vectograph printing process
required for each 3-D image a set of six flawless, perfectly
registered matrices, as indicated in Fig. 3. The process
produced excellent stereoscopic color prints and transpar-
encies and even experimental 3-D motion pictures. How-
ever, preparation was difficult, time-consuming, and costly,
and these factors precluded widespread utilization of the
process.
In recent years 3-D computer technology has dramati-
cally influenced scientific, engineering, and medical imag-
ing. For example, molecules, airplanes, oil rigs, and build-
ings are now designed or investigated using 3-D comput-
ers, often with real-time stereoscopic renditions displayed
on monitors. Until now, however, there has been no conve-
nient form of hardcopy for these 3-D display images.
The purpose of our investigation has been to develop
a greatly simplified process for generating full-color 3-D
prints and transparencies, using contemporary ink-jet
printing technology with dichroic inks and specially con-
structed substrates. New materials and techniques make
it practical to use ink-jet technology for printing full-color
3-D hardcopy images.3
Materials and Methods
Preparation of 3-D Digital Image Pairs. Figure 4 de-
tails the various paths from initial image acquisition to
the finished stereo image. If the initial stereo images are
conventional photographic negatives or positive transpar-
encies, the images are first scanned and digitized. Image
pairs from digital cameras, CAD images, and digital im-
ages based on various instrumental data are used directly.
th
¶ Presentation by E. H. Land at the 38 Annual Meeting of the Optical
Society of America, Rochester, NY, 1953.
308 Journal of Imaging Science and Technology
Figure 3. Color Vectograph image printing by dye-transfer process.
Figure 4. Flow diagram illustrating the preparation of digitized
stereoscopic polarizing images. The principal steps are: (1) the
preparation of a digitized left–right image pair, (2) storage of the
two images as a left–right image file, (3) paste-layering, using
Adobe Photoshop. Following adjustment of contrast and color,
suitable cropping, and stereo registration, the two images are
printed sequentially, one on each surface of the two-sided sheet.
In addition to using an array of external sources, we can
import digital 3-D images electronically from remote in-
struments and computers.
The paired left- and right-eye digital images are trans-
ferred to Adobe Photoshop or a comparable program. We
adjust the contrast and color balance of each image, then
register the pair stereoscopically, as illustrated by the two
upper images in Fig. 5. Each of the two images is “paste-
layered” into a new canvas, in which the dimensions match
the dimensions of the printing medium, commonly 8.5 ×
11˝ or 8.5 × 14˝. We then select the right-eye image, re-
duce its transparency to 50%, and move the image into
stereoscopic alignment with the left-eye image, superim-
posing precisely the points that are to lie in the plane of
the stereoscopic “window,” i.e., the plane of the screen or
frame, as shown in the lower left panel of Fig. 5. Finally,
we restore full density and reverse the right-eye image
right to left (Fig. 5, lower right panel), so that when the
two images are printed face to face both images will again
have the same left–right orientation.
Image Dyes. Figure 6 shows the structure of a typical
dichroic azo dye suitable for forming polarizing images
Scarpetti, et al.
 Figure 5. Monitor screen views showing the steps in stereoscopic registration of image pair.
Figure 6. A typical dichroic image dye, Direct Green 27.
upon imbibition into an oriented PVA layer. The dye
shown is Direct Green 27, which we use in the cyan ink.4
The polyazo dye molecule is sufficiently flexible to align
readily with oriented molecules of PVA to form an effi-
cient dichroic polarizer. The sulfonic acid groups confer
high solubility in aqueous solution, providing mobility of
the dye within water-permeable polymeric layers. For our
application the dyes are carefully purified and formulated
into dichroic inks that perform well in standard ink-jet
cartridges.
Sheet Material. We print the paired images on the two
surfaces of a multilayer sheet, as represented in Fig. 7.
The film base is a nondepolarizing transparent support of
cellulose triacetate or cellulose acetate butyrate. An im-
age-receiving layer of stretched PVA is laminated to each
surface of the film base, with the stretch axes of the two
Full-color 3-D Prints and Transparencies
PVA layers oriented at 90° to one another and at 45° to
the edge of the sheet (Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge,
MA). A thin metering layer of a nonoriented ink-perme-
able polymer, such as carboxymethyl cellulose, overlies the
surface of each of the PVA layers, as indicated in Fig. 7.
Printing Equipment. Desktop ink-jet printers are char-
acterized as drop-on-demand printers. The printhead com-
prises a bank of ink cartridges, one for each of three sub-
tractive color inks and in most cases one for black ink as
well. As the printhead moves rapidly across a sheet of
paper or transparent base, microscopic nozzles eject ink
onto the sheet. In certain drop-on-demand printers, such
as those provided by Epson, electronic signals actuate pi-
ezoelectric diaphragms within the head to force the
imagewise ejection of droplets. In bubble-jet systems, such
as the Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Canon printers, heat-
Vol. 42, No. 4, July/Aug. 1998 309
 Figure 7. Schematic drawing of sheet structure.
ing elements create bubbles that expand to force out the
ink droplets.
Most of our images to date have been produced on HP
printers, including Models 500C, 550C, 850C, and 820.
We are also printing images on an Epson Stylus 800
printer. In each case the image resolution is determined
by the resolution of the printer. The Hewlett-Packard
printers are rated at 300 dpi and the Epson at 1440 dpi.
To print the 3-D images, we insert standard ink-jet car-
tridges filled with dichroic inks into otherwise unmodi-
fied ink-jet printers. To make a transparency with the HP
printer we select the media setting “transparency” and
we set the intensity at “normal” to “darkest.” To make a
reflection print we select “glossy” as the media setting and
choose “lighter” to “normal” ink intensity. We print the
left-eye image on one surface of the sheet and the right-
eye image on the opposite surface.
Finishing Stage. After transfer of the images to the ori-
ented PVA layers has taken place, the metering layers are
removed. Transparencies are mounted for viewing by over-
head projection or for direct viewing on a light box. Im-
ages prepared for viewing as reflection prints are lami-
nated to reflective aluminized backing sheets.
Results
We have used a variety of stereoscopic images in the
course of our development work. These images represent
many applications, including molecular modeling, micros-
copy, data visualization, entertainment, and pictorial pho-
tography. The 3-D image pair used in Fig. 5 was taken
from a Photo CD file. Several of the images shown dur-
ing the presentation of this paper originated as computer-
generated or instrument-generated stereoscopic data. For
example, a model of a complex protein molecule was pro-
duced from its molecular coordinates, using the program
MOLMOL in a Silicon Graphics workstation.5,6 The im-
age information was saved as a TIFF file and transferred
to a PowerMac in our laboratory via FTP, using NCSA
TelNet. Fig. 8 illustrates the image as a side-by-side ste-
reo pair.
The 3-D transparencies produced in desktop equip-
ment are convenient hardcopy of size and quality suitable
for projection in a standard overhead projector onto an
aluminum screen or for direct viewing by transmitted light.
In most situations the observers wear conventional lin-
310 Journal of Imaging Science and Technology
Figure 8. Molecular structure of α-t-α, a 35-residue peptide with
a helical hairpin conformation in solution.5 Left, left-eye image;
right, right-eye image.
early polarized viewers. The same images may be projected
directly through an overlaid quarter-wave retarder for
observation with circularly polarized viewers. The trans-
parencies may also be viewed without glasses, using table-
top autostereoscopic display apparatus.
Although all of the prints and transparencies produced
so far have been printed on desktop equipment, we are
exploring the applicability of larger format drop-on-de-
mand printers and continuous-flow ink-jet printers.
Summary and Conclusions
We have developed a 3-D imaging system that should
be compatible with many of the color ink-jet printers now
in use. All indicators suggest that ink-jet printing will con-
tinue to be a leading technology for producing digital
hardcopy of high quality. Advances in resolution, image
quality, speed, and convenience are occurring rapidly in
the ink-jet industry, and these advances will contribute to
the utility of our process. The increasing use of 3-D infor-
mation in many fields makes it desirable to have ready
access to high-quality 3-D hardcopy. We believe that our
technology offers new opportunities for modern stereo-
scopic imaging.
Acknowledgments. We thank David Burder for the use
of several of his 3-D images, including the pair used in
Fig. 5. We also thank John Osterhout for the image of the
molecule shown in Fig. 8.
References
1. E. H. Land, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 30, 230–238 (1940).
2. (a) W. A. Shurcliff, Polarized Light: Production and Use, Chap. 4, Harvard
University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1966; (b) E. H .Land and C. D.
West, “Dichroism and dichroic polarizers” in Colloid Chemistry, J.
Alexander, Ed., Vol. 6, Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1946, pp.
160–190.
3. J. Scarpetti, International Patent WO 96/23663, 1996, assigned to The
Rowland Institute for Science.
4. R. Bernhard, U.S. Patent 1,829,673, asssigned to J. R. Geigy, S.A.
5. Y. Fezoui, P. J. Connolly and J. J. Osterhout, Solution structure of α-t-α,
a helical hairpin peptide of de novo design, Prot. Sci. 1869–1877 (1997).
6. R. Koradi, M. Billeter and K. Wuthrich, MOLMOL: A program for display
and analysis of macromolecular structures, J. Mol. Graph. 14, 51–55
(1996).
Scarpetti, et al.